Woman Reading 1909

Pierre-Auguste Renoir painted this small, intimate portrait of a girl reading, sometime in the late nineteenth century, probably in oil on canvas. The marks are soft, blurry, but there’s a tension between the forms dissolving into each other and the vibrant energy they create. The real star of this work is color. Look how Renoir uses pink, not just for the girl’s skin and dress, but as a base note throughout the whole painting. It’s like he’s decided pink is the secret to the universe, and honestly, I’m kind of convinced. Notice also the almost abstract brushwork in the background; Renoir leaves sections of the canvas bare, allowing the creamy ground to shine through. It's loose, like he's batting at the canvas with his brush. Renoir makes me think of Manet, both of them capturing fleeting moments, but while Manet is sharp and direct, Renoir is all warmth and gentle curves. They're each trying to get at something similar, that moment when a feeling becomes a picture.